Даты выхода игры

вышла 18 июля 2000 г.

вышла 29 июня 2000 г.

Solution [ENG]

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Act I - Rogue Encampment
You begin your quest to destroy Diablo in the Rogue Encampment, an outpost of
civilization in an otherwise overrun land. The surrounding fields used to be
populated, but as the evil spread by Diablo began to engulf the land, the
settlers were either destroyed by the monsters or left for greener pastures.
Since the Rogue sisters stand vigilant at the gates, the Encampment is the only
place where travelers can find refuge from the evil that runs rampant throughout
the Western realm. The notable Non-Player Characters (NPCs) you'll encounter
include:
Akara: This high priestess will fully heal your health and Mana when you speak
to
her, as well as removing any poison or curses that may be afflicting you. She'll
be the catalyst for a couple of quests, in addition to selling a number of
useful
magical items, such as potions, scrolls, and staves for the three magic-oriented
character classes.
Charsi: The Rogue blacksmith, Charsi will buy, sell, and repair your weaponry
and
armor.
Deckard Cain: Once you complete the Search for Cain quest, Cain will be
available
in the middle of the town to dispense wisdom on your various quests. His ability
to identify any magical items that you're carrying will be tremendously useful,
as it'll remove the need to constantly stock up on Identify scrolls from Akara.
He'll travel with you from Act to Act, so you'll never really need to carry
Identify scrolls again (though you probably should, just to identify any little
things that might come along in between trips to town).
Gheed: This businessman will offer a slightly more expensive set of wares than
Charsi does. He'll also allow you to gamble, which will give you an array of
unidentified items to buy. They'll all be extremely expensive, and you won't
know
the quality of your purchase until it's complete. The only guarantee is that all
of the items will be magical, but you'll often wind up spending tens of
thousands
of gold for a Helm of Light, or something ridiculously underpowered like that.
Very rarely, though, you'll wind up with a unique, rare, or set item that will
make your purchase worthwhile.
Kasha: The leader of the remaining Rogues, Kasha is initially mistrustful of
you,
but eventually will allow you to hire some of her Rogues to help you in your
quest.
Warriv: A stranded caravan owner, Warriv needs you to cleanse the Rogue
monastery
in order to open his passage to Lut Gholein in the east. He doesn't provide any
necessary services, but he will talk to you about the quests you undertake.
Quests:
Den of Evil: This first and easiest quest in the game is given to you when you
speak to Akara for the first time. She'll explain that a cave near the Rogue
Encampment has been overrun by monsters, and that she wishes for you to cleanse
the cave of all the enemies within.
Before you head into the Den, run around on the Blood Moor and kill enemies
until
you've gained a few levels. Once you've gained some Skill Points and have
increased your stats, find the entrance to the Den and head down. It'll be at
the
end of one of the road branches, so follow the trail until you find it (if you
run into the Stony Field, head back to the fork and take the other path).
The Den of Evil is a single-level cave with 40-50 monsters in it. You'll be
facing a mixture of Fallen, Zombies, and Gargantuan Beasts, so characters with
ranged attacks shouldn't have too much trouble. There is one Unique monster in
the Den, a Super Unique in fact, by the name of Corpsefire. He's a Zombie with
the Spectral Hit attribute, but he's not going to be a real threat to you, even
at this early juncture of the game.
Work your way through the cave, destroying everything you see. Sometimes, the
Fallen that you encounter will flee from you in the direction you came from, so
you might have to double back and eliminate any stragglers. The Quest menu will
read you back the number of enemies you have left when you start to approach
zero. Once all of the enemies are destroyed, light will somehow pierce the solid
rock above and begin shining into the cave, and your character will say
something
to indicate the completion of the quest. Head back to Akara and receive your
reward, a free Skill Point. Use it wisely!
In future games, the Den of Evil will become a simple cave, though Corpsefire
will always be there. Oddly enough, Akara doesn't seem to have a problem with it
refilling with monsters.
Sisters' Burial Grounds: After completing the Den of Evil quest, talk to Kasha
to
open up the second quest in this act. She'll inform you that one of Andarial's
lieutenants, Blood Raven, has been spotted hanging around the Rogue cemetery,
raising the dead there to serve as soldiers in some evil zombie army. She wants
you to go to the cemetery and destroy Blood Raven.
To get to the cemetery, head out of town and through the Blood Moor, onto the
Cold Plains. Look around for the first waypoint, which should be near the
corridor leading from the Blood Moor. You might want to poke around in the Cold
Plains for a bit, gaining a few levels and perhaps finding some equipment,
before
taking on Blood Raven, as she can be fairly tough. You can also take a dip into
the Caves beneath the Cold Plains, as you'll find plenty of Unique monsters
there, as well as a gold chest.
Once you're ready to take on Blood Raven, head to the Burial Grounds by
following
the path through the Cold Plains. This one will actually fork twice, once to
reach the Caves, and once to head on to the Stony Field. Once you actually find
the Burial Grounds, you'll come across a large cemetery filled with Hungry Dead
and Skeletons. Blood Raven will be in the middle, surrounded by her army. She
can
be a fairly difficult enemy for low-level characters, as she's very fast and
quite powerful. She strikes with a bow, and can imbue her arrows with a fire
attack, though this only occurs with every fifth arrow or so. She'll
periodically
stop to raise a few more Zombies from the ground, so don't even bother dealing
with them. Head straight for Blood Raven and start to attack her. If you have
any
kind of ranged attack, that's always helpful, since she'll often just run away
when you get close enough for a melee attack. Be sure you have enough healing
potions to survive, and once you deal enough damage, Blood Raven will die,
taking
all of her minions with her in a burst of Lightning. You can head back to town
to
heal up if you want to. Once you complete the quest, Kasha will let you hire
Rogue warriors to fight alongside you, and she'll give you one right away for
free.
Before you head on to the third quest, you'll probably want to head back to the
Burial Grounds and explore the Crypt and Mausoleum nearby. Each of these will
have a couple of Unique monsters within, as well as a gold chest, so you might
even wish to go through a couple of times (after re-starting the game) to get a
few magical items.
The Search For Cain: Talk to Akara once the Blood Raven quest is complete to
activate the Cairn Stones quest. She'll ask you to travel to Tristram and see if
Deckard Cain, the last of the Horadrim, is still alive.
The first step to take here is to head back to the Cold Plains waypoint and head
out for the Stony Field. Once you reach the Stony Field, you'll need to find
three things: the entrance to the Underground Passage, the Moldy Tome that will
give you the Forgotten Tower quest, and the third waypoint for the Act. Once you
reach the Underground Passage, head into it and start looking for the exit to
the
Dark Wood. The caves are huge, though, so you'll probably be looking for a
while.
Once you reach the Dark Wood, you'll need to find the Tree of Inifuss. You'll
know it when you see it; it's a large tree in the middle of a barren patch of
land. Treehand Woodfist, a Super Unique Brute that sounds like he was named
after
an Ent, will be in the area, so be prepared to fight him and his minions.
Actually, you can just avoid them if you want, but this wouldn't be Diablo if
you
just ran away from every scary monster, would it? Once you click on the Tree of
Inifuss, a scroll will pop out. Clear a 2x2 space in your inventory for it, and
pick it up. Do not warp back to town! Instead, find the waypoint somewhere in
the
Dark Wood and use it to get back to town. If you miss the waypoint, it's all too
possible that you'll have to use the Waypoint in the Stony Field and go through
the Underground Passage again.
Once you get back to town, talk to Akara. She'll decipher the scroll and tell
you
what order you need to hit the Cairn Stones in order to open the portal to
Tristram. Head back to the Stony Field and find the Cairn Stones. You probably
saw them your first time through the area, but if not, they are a set of five
large pillars, each with a glyph, set in a pentagram formation. Rakanishu will
be
guarding them, if you didn't take him out earlier. He's a Fallen, and of course
that goes hand in hand with weakness, so you shouldn't have a problem with him.
Right click on the scroll to read it, and click on the Cairn Stones in the given
order to open the spooky red portal to Tristram.
This red portal brings you back to Tristram, or what's left of it.
They booby-trapped the cows. That's the first bit of information you'll need to
survive in the now burning Tristram. It's changed a bit since you last visited
in
Diablo, as now it's overrun by Carvers, Returned, a few Uniques, and one mean
undead blacksmith by the name of Griswold. If you intend to fight Griswold, you
should try to clear out an area of other enemies before you take him on, as
he'll
take a bit of whittling before he falls. He's fairly tough, and quite strong,
but
very slow, so you can run away and get him with ranged attacks without getting
scratched. If you're a Barbarian or Paladin, you can probably take him on
toe-to-
toe. If you have an Armor Class of 100-120, he won't be able to connect very
easily. And seriously, avoid clicking on the cattle corpses, as they will
explode
when you do.
You can find Cain in his gibbet in the clearing near the center of the map. One
click on him, and he'll be released and head back to town through a portal. You
can follow him through your own portal, or stick around and mop up the area.
Don't miss Wirt's body in the western corner of town. Poor little guy…he wasn't
so bad for a money-grubbing little kid. Click on his body to receive a couple
hundred gold and Wirt's Leg, a unique club (see the Hints and Tips section for
more info on this little item).
Once you get back to town, Cain will thank you for rescuing him, and start
identifying items for you. Akara will give you a ring for your services. Once
you
speak to both of them, the quest will be over.
The Forgotten Tower: This relatively straightforward quest begins when you read
the Moldy Tome in the Stony Field. Apparently, an evil countess was burned
alive,
and all that remains of her formerly majestic castle is a single tower.
Predictably enough, you're supposed to go and kill the now risen Countess.
This book will trigger the Forgotten Tower quest.
Once you get the quest, head to the Black Marsh and start scouting around for a
tower (be sure to hit the waypoint in the area before you head down). It's easy
enough to spot, being the only large stone construct in the area. Once inside,
you'll descend through four smallish levels before you reach the Countess on the
fifth. Each of those four levels will contain either a unique monster, a group
of
Champions, or no monsters at all.
Once you reach the fifth level, you'll face one unique monster in the main hall
of the Countess' inner sanctum. The countess herself will be hiding in the rear
room, surrounded by a pack of Dark Stalkers. There are two entrances to the
room,
though the Countess will initiate a permanent Fire Wall on both of them as soon
as she detects your presence. Her Dark Stalkers won't stray too far from their
master, but you can often lure them into one of the side rooms to dispatch them
without alerting the Countess. The Countess herself won't leave her chamber, so
you can use a Rogue mercenary to dispatch her minions as they run in and out of
the side rooms, if you stand in the right spot. Once you've thinned out her
clique, you can take her out relatively easily. As the Fire Walls probably
indicated, she's Fire Enchanted, so be ready for that with some ice magic if
it's
available. Once she's dead, her nearby chest will pop open, spilling out a large
amount of gold. Nab the booty, and search the rest of the level for the gold
that's lying around in the other rooms.
Tools of The Trade: After completing the Forgotten Tower quest, speak to Charsi
and she'll ask you to find a magical hammer that she left behind when she fled
the monastery. The Horadric Malus is in the Barracks, one of the first indoors
levels you encounter when you reach the Rogue Monastery. Head to the Black Marsh
waypoint, and travel from there to the Tamoe Highlands. There's no waypoint in
the Highlands, but there is a set of caves underneath it that you can explore if
you wish. If not, follow the trail to the Monastery Gate. This is a short
transition level that will lead into the Outer Cloister. Hit the waypoint in the
middle, and find the door nearby that leads into the Barracks.
The Barracks contains a good amount of Devilkin, Bone Mages, Bone Archers, and
other nasty creatures that will probably start taxing your damage-taking
capacity. Survive as best you can, and start scouting around for the Smith.
He'll
yell something threatening when you approach ("I'll make weapons from your
bones!" or the like) and start running around trying to hit you. He's Extra
Strong, but as long as you don't let your health get too low, you can take him
fairly easily. If you have a ranged attack, just run away from him, turn and
fire, and run again. If you need to go melee, keep a full belt of health potions
and run away when you start to get low on health. Keep a Town Portal open nearby
in case you die, so you won't have to go through the waypoint and run back.
Once the Smith is dead, grab the Horadric Malus and head back to town. Give it
to
Charsi, and she'll tell you that she's able to imbue a single item for you. Once
you select the "Imbue" option in Charsi's menu and place an item on her forge,
she'll take it and give it a few random magical properties, making it into a
Rare
item while she's at it. You can't imbue any magical, rare, set, throwing, or
socketed item. What does that leave you with? Well, you'll probably want to use
a
superior-class item of your choice, but know this: any special attributes of the
item will probably be erased by Charsi when she makes it rare. For example, if
you spend 20,000 gold on a staff that gives +2 to Frost Nova and Ice Blast to
complement your Lightning-based Sorceress, then have Charsi imbue it, you'll
probably wind up with some enhanced damage and a bonus to your attack rating,
but
without the spell bonuses that you paid so much for. You might want to just wait
until later on in the game to use this ability, when you can imbue a more
powerful item. Rare items are always going to be difficult to come by, so make
sure you put this ability to good use.
Sisters to the Slaughter: Once you have completed the first five quests in Act
1,
the sixth and final quest will become available. Talk to Cain in the town to
activate it. Simply put, you have to find and kill Andarial in the bowels of the
Rogue Monastery. Only by doing this can you open the passage to the east,
allowing you to travel with Warriv and his caravan to Lut Gholein (and the
second
act).
Stock up on sundries before you head out to face Andarial. Warp to the last
waypoint you marked, and keep on moving. If you activated this quest immediately
after killing the Smith, then you'll have to head through three levels of Jail,
the Inner Cloister, the Inner Cathedral, and three levels of Catacombs before
finally encountering Andarial in her throne room below the Catacombs. It's a
long
journey, but there are three waypoints along the way, on the first level of the
Jail, in the Inner Cloister, and on the second level of the Catacombs (this last
one is especially important).
Once you finally reach the fourth level of the Catacombs, your Quest button will
pop up, helpfully reminding you to kill Andarial, as if you could miss the half-
naked Mistress of Anguish with poison breath and four claws growing out of her
back. There are two rooms that you pass through before entering Andarial's
throne
room. One, the stair room, is relatively empty, and should be your regrouping
point during the fight. The second, something of a hellish antechamber, is
filled
with Dark Ones and Dark Shamen. Needless to say, make sure everything is dead
before you open the door to Andarial's room.
Once it's open, fire a few ranged attacks into it if you can. This should draw
out any nearby enemies, so you can deal with them before tackling Andarial. If
you hear Andarial coming, get ready to fight. Don't charge into her room, as
there are too many monsters around. If you have to take on a dozen Dark Ones and
Andarial at the same time, you'll die quite quickly. Instead, lure Andarial into
the antechamber and start attacking her. She's the easiest of the four bosses to
defeat, but she'll still be fairly tough at this point in your character's
development. She has three main attacks: a powerful close-range jab with her
four
pincers, which will poison you if it hits, a long-range poison breath attack
that's difficult to avoid, and a Teeth-like poison bolt that she will
periodically fling at you. She runs about as fast as your character can run, so
it's difficult to do a hit-and-run attack against her, unless you're using some
kind of ice attack to slow her down. The Paladin and Barbarian should just hack
it out with her, keeping plenty of potions in the belt to counterattack the
poison. The Amazon and Sorceress should probably try and use some kind of cold-
based ranged attack. There should be plenty of Dark One bodies in the room for
the Necromancer to raise, as cannon fodder Skeletons to keep her busy while he
casts spells from afar. All of the character classes will want to hire a
mercenary in town to give Andarial another target before attempting to take her
on. Your Rogue won't last long, but it'll generally be enough to give you time
to
get a few whacks in.
For the first boss you'll be facing, Andariel isn't incredibly tough.
As mentioned, Andarial isn't too tough if you've worked your character up
enough.
You'll probably want to get to level 12 before you take her on, just to access
the level 12 skills that will come in handy. Once Andarial dies, you can scout
out the rest of her lair to find a few piles of gold. Don't miss the gems that
she'll drop.
Once you're back in town, talk to the various NPCs to receive their
congratulations. Talk to Warriv and select the "Head East" option to travel on
to
Act II.
Areas:
Blood Moor
Enemies: Zombie, Quill Rat
Notes: Nothing challenging here. The Den of Evil is located somewhere in this
area. After you complete the Den of Evil quest, it will revert to a regular
Cave.
Den of Evil/Cave
Enemies: Zombies, Fallen, Fallen Shaman, Gargantuan Beasts
Notes: One Super Unique monster here: Corpsefire, a Zombie.
Cold Plains
Enemies: Gargantuan Beasts, Fallen, Fallen Shamen, Dark Spearwomen, Dark Hunter
Notes: One Super Unique somewhere here: Bishibosh, a Fallen Shaman. He'll raise
the other Fallen Shaman nearby when you kill them, so target the green one
first.
There is a set of Caves somewhere in this area.
Caves
Enemies: Hungry Dead, Skeletons, Dark Rangers, Fallen
Notes: There are 2-3 uniques on the first level of the caves. There will be a
few
Fallen encampments around, packed with Fallen and a few Shaman, so be ready to
come across a couple dozen enemies all at once. On the second level of the
caves,
you'll encounter another couple of uniques, as well as a gold chest.
Burial Grounds
Enemies: Hungry Dead, Skeletons
Notes: This is the area where you encounter Blood Raven. See the
section "Sisters' Burial Ground" under Quests for more information. Also nearby
are the entrances to the Mausoleum and Crypt, both containing Hungry Dead,
Skeletons and one gold chest.
Stony Field
Enemies: Foul Crow, Foul Crow Nest, Dark Ranger, Moon Clan, Carver, Fallen,
Hungry Dead
Notes: You should find the Moldy Tome somewhere in this area, as well as the
entrance to the Underground Passage. The Cairn Stones are also here, with
Rakanishu, a Super Unique Fallen, guarding them.
Tristram
Enemies: Returned, Returned Archer, Carver, Carver Shaman
Notes: The two important things here are Cain's Gibbet in the center of town and
Wirt's Body in the eastern corner. Other than that, there will be a couple of
unique monsters, as well as Griswold.
Underground Passage
Enemies: Skeleton Archers, Misshapen, Carver, Vile Hunter
Notes: The top level of this cave system is quite large. You'll be encountering
a
significant number of enemies with ranged attacks for the first time, so be
ready
for them. The second level contains up to three uniques, as well as a gold
chest.
Dark Wood
Enemies: Spike Fiend, Carver, Vile Lancer, Brute
Notes: The Tree of Inifuss is somewhere here, guarded by Treehand Woodfist, a
Super Unique Brute. Click on it to get the Scroll needed by Akara in the Search
for Cain quest. Don't miss the waypoint.
Black Marsh
Enemies: Night Clan, Carver, Returned
Notes: The passage to the optional Hole area is somewhere in this area, as well
as the Forgotten Tower.
The Hole
Enemies: Misshapen, Vile Archer, Carver, Brute
Notes: After turning on the waypoint in the Black Marsh, you can head into this
system of caves to find a gold chest on the second level.
Forgotten Tower
Enemies: Blood Clan, Dark Archers, Ghosts, Dark Stalkers
Notes: There are five levels to this dungeon, the first four with one unique or
group of champions each. The last level contains the Countess. Beat her to
complete the Forgotten Tower quest.
Tamoe Highlands
Enemies: Thorn Beast, Dark Stalker, Returned Mage, Returned Archer, Disfigured,
Devilkin
Notes: The entrance to the Monastery Gate is at the end of the path in this
area.
There's also yet another cave system here, the Pit.
The Pit
Enemies: Devilkin, Dark Archers
Notes: One gold chest on the second level here.
Monastery Gate
Enemies: Various
Notes: This is an extremely short area, just a bridge between the Tamoe
Highlands
and the Outer Cloister. It shouldn't take you more than 10 seconds to get from
one end to the other.
Outer Cloister
Enemies: Devilkin, Razor Spine, Yeti
Notes: Be sure to hit the waypoint here.
The Barracks
Enemies: Devilkin, Death Clan, Bone Mage, Bone Archer, Black Rogue
Notes: The Smith, along with the Horadric Malus, is in this area.
Jail
Enemies: Bone Mage, Bone Archer, Death Clan, Wraith, Dark One, Gargoyle Trap
Notes: There are three levels of the Jail before you emerge at the Inner
Cloister. Don't miss the waypoint on the first level.
Inner Cloister/Inner Cathedral
Enemies: Bone Mages, Tainted, Dark One, Wraith, Razor Spine
Notes: The Cloister will have a waypoint, while the Cathedral will contain quite
a few enemies, as well as a couple of Unique enemies.
Catacombs
Enemies: Tainted, Rat Man, Dark One, Dark Shaman, Arach, Ghoul, The Banished,
Afflicted, Gargoyle Trap
Notes: Quite a few tough enemies here, particularly the Banished that will be
giving you a hard time. Waypoint is on the second level here.
Andarial's Lair
Enemies: Afflicted, Dark One, Dark Shaman, Ghoul
Notes: Technically, this should be called the fourth level of the Catacombs,
but "Andarial's Lair" sounds better. Predictably, you'll be facing Andarial
here,
as well as a horde of her hangers-on.
Act II - Lut Gholein
Act II of Diablo II takes place in Lut Gholein, a city in the desert. It's much
larger than the rogue encampment, so take a few minutes at the beginning to get
accustomed to the city and the NPCs that are hanging around.
Atma: The owner of a pub in Lut Gholein, Atma will give you the first quest in
this act when you speak to her.
Cain: Coming along for the ride, Cain will appear in the town square to give you
advice and identify items for you.
Drognan: This man acts like Akara did in the first act, selling Tomes, Scrolls,
Wands, Staves, and Scepters.
Elxiz: One of the innkeepers in Lut Gholein, he'll sell weapons and armor
similar
to the quality you could get from Gheed in the first Act (generally of lesser
quality than Fara's wares). He'll also let you gamble.
Fara: This former Paladin will heal you when you speak to her. She's the all-in-
one item seller in Lut Gholein, offering a large assortment of powerful weaponry
and armor, as well as acting as the town's blacksmith.
Geglash: The town drunk, Geglash can be found in Atma's pub. You never have to
speak to him if you don't want to.
Griez: This mercenary captain will hire out spear-wielding soldiers when he's
not
busy guarding the entrance to the sewers. Unlike the Rogues in Act I, these
soldiers can only utilize melee attacks, so they aren't quite as versatile
Jerhyn: The mayor of Lut Gholein, Jerhyn will welcome you to the town at the
beginning of the act, and then pace around his palace worriedly until you begin
the Arcane Sanctuary Quest.
Kaelan: This laconic palace guard has an epic two lines of dialogue.
Lysander: Lysander occupies the town square of Lut Gholein. He'll sell a wide
variety of potions.
Meshif: This ship captain will eventually provide your transport to Act III.
Warriv: After bringing you here from the Rogue Encampment, Warriv will hang out
in the city. He won't do anything important here, though, so feel free to ignore
him if you wish.
Quests:
Radament's Lair: The first quest in this act is given to you when you speak to
Atma, the pub owner, for the first time. Apparently, a "horrid creature" has
taken up residence in the sewers beneath Lut Gholein. Since it killed Atma's son
and husband, she asks if you wouldn't mind heading down there and destroying it.
The oddly sewageless Sewers can be found beneath the Trap Door near Griez, or
through the door in the south end of the city. They're full of Burning Dead,
Burning Dead Mages, Burning Dead Archers, and poisonous Dried Corpses, so Fire
and Poison resistances will be quite handy. You might want to hire a mercenary
from Griez before heading down, as it's always helpful to give the beasties
another target.
As you make your way through the Sewers, be sure to completely scout the second
level for the waypoint. Radament is located on the third level of the sewers,
and
he'll be your first encounter with a Greater Mummy, one of the most incredibly
aggravating monster types you'll be facing in Diablo II. They're essentially
mini-
Andarials, complete with damaging melee attack and short-range poison breath. In
addition, though, they can raise any undead you happen to kill, and quite
quickly, too. This ability seems to be restricted to their line of sight, so if
you can lure Radament's groupies away from him and kill them somewhere else,
he'll be much easier to kill by his lonesome. Of course, the easiest way to
prevent him from raising them is to use a weapon or spell enchanted with Cold
damage, to smash their bodies.
Radament can be very challenging, especially if you're facing him alone.
Even disregarding his minions, Radament himself is one tough customer, capable
of
taking plenty of damage and dishing out plenty in return. His poison breath
isn't
particularly venomous, but you might want to bring along some antidote potions
just in case. For melee characters, your best bet is to just thin his crowd out
a
little bit, and then start hacking away at him. If he's preoccupied with
attacking you, he won't be able to raise the dead around him, though he'll
rarely
engage you without having at least two or three minions around. The Barbarian's
Double Swing or the Paladin's Zeal skills will be handy at engaging Radament and
whatever skeletal foes that are attacking you simultaneously.
Once Radament dies, he'll drop a book that will give you a free Skill Point.
Search the gold chest nearby for the Horadric Scroll and bring it to Cain.
The Horadric Staff / Tainted Sun: Once you deliver the Scroll to Cain, he'll
send
you on your second quest, the search for the Horadric Staff, which handily
includes the complete third quest, Tainted Sun. He'll give you a shopping list
of
ingredients you'll need to gather in order to assemble the staff.
The first item you need is the Horadric Cube. It's located in the Halls of the
Dead in the Dry Hills outside the city. Be sure to hit the waypoint in the Dry
Hills before heading into the Halls, as it'll be easier to just use a Town
Portal
from the bottom of the Halls than walking all the way back out. In order to get
to the Dry Hills, you need to head out of town and pass through the Rocky
Wastes.
Once you reach the Halls of the Dead, you'll have to descend through two
sprawling levels of tombs before you reach the third level, where the Horadric
Cube is hidden in a gold chest. There's a waypoint on the second level of the
Halls you should activate if you want to avoid a real long walk back in case you
die. Once you fight off all of the monsters and find the Cube, warp back to town
and talk to Cain. He'll explain what the Cube is, and what it does (see the
Hints
and Tips section for more information on this cool little item). For now, all
you
really need to know is that it has a 3x4 inventory space within it, a nice
little
expansion from the 2x2 space the Cube itself takes up. Opening it and closing it
every time you want to add something to your inventory is a bit frustrating,
however, so you might just want to keep it in your Stash for now.
The Greater Mummies that inhabit the Tombs in Act II are among the most
frustrating enemies you'll encounter in the entire game.
Once you have the Cube, head back to the Dry Hills waypoint and find the exit to
the Far Oasis area. Again, you'll need to find the waypoint here, as you'll soon
be delving into another dungeon. Once you tag the waypoint, start looking around
for the entrance to the Maggot Lair. This underground area is filled with Sand
Maggots and Rock Worms, with the occasional Black Locust thrown in just to be
extremely annoying. The narrow, twisty halls of this area make minion management
quite difficult, so be prepared to recast your Golems or Skeletons fairly often
as you wander around. On the plus side, there are a lot of treasure chests in
the
various dead ends, which have a higher than average chance at containing magical
items.
When you reach the third level, you're going to want to scout around for the
lair
of Coldworm the Burrower, a huge, immobile Sand Maggot, somewhat akin to a
subterranean Jabba the Hutt. He (she?) is surrounded by regular-size Sand
Maggots, and a few dozen Sand Maggot Young for good measure. Obviously, some
kind
of area effect skill will be advantageous here. If you are a Barbarian or
Paladin, don't even bother with the minions; just go straight for Coldworm and
start attacking. He doesn't have any real attacks, but there seems to be an
ambient poison field in the cave that will infect you over time. Once Coldworm
dies, though, the fun really starts as he explodes in a poison shower that will
infect anyone in the room. Not your garden-variety poison, either; this stuff
will work quickly to drain your health, so you might want to warp back to town
immediately, or have some antidote potions at the ready. The speed of the poison
will be increased in Nightmare and Hell difficulties, almost to the point where
using a Greater Health Potion won't stop the downward swing in your little red
globe of life. In these cases, especially, you should just use a Town Portal as
soon as she dies, and get the heck out of there. You can also weaken Coldworm
until he's almost dead, then run away and let a mercenary finish him off, but
that wouldn't be very nice. The Horadric Staff is in the nearby gold chest.
Coldworm isn't incredibly difficult, but his large number of minions and the
poison explosion that results from his death can combine to kill any adventurer.
Once you have the Staff, you need to get the Headpiece in the Claw Viper Temple,
underneath the Valley of Snakes. Head back to the Far Oasis and search for the
entrance to the Lost City area. There's a waypoint somewhere in here that you
should hit. You'll notice a strange darkness falling shortly after you enter the
Lost City; this marks the beginning of the Tainted Sun quest, which handily
overlaps the Horadric Staff quest. Warp back to town and talk to Drognan to get
more information on what could be causing the strange darkness. He'll inform you
of his theory that a race of desert-dwelling snakes may have initiated an evil
eclipse. Oddly enough, he's correct, so you'll have to delve into the Claw Viper
Temple to put an end to the false eclipse.
Once you find the Valley of the Snakes, you'll see the entrance to the Claw
Viper
Temple near the center of the area. The main enemies you'll be facing here are
Claw Vipers, Salamanders, and Embalmed. Once you reach the main Temple room,
predictably enough filled with Claw Vipers, you'll need to click on the altar in
the center of the room to break the eclipse spell, and the Viper Amulet will pop
out. This is actually the headpiece to the Horadric Staff, so warp back to town
and use the Cube to Transmute the Shaft and Headpiece. The Horadric Staff will
appear in the Cube, and you can move on to the next Quest.
Once you destroy the Claw Viper altar, you'll find the Horadric Staff's
Headpiece, and the sun will resume shining.
The Arcane Sanctuary / The Summoner: Talk to Drognan after you get the Horadric
Staff put together. He'll send you on the Arcane Sanctuary quest, which overlaps
with the Summoner quest, and tell you to talk to Jerhyn in front of the palace.
Once you talk to Jerhyn, he'll tell you of trouble within the palace itself. It
appears as though some kind of portal has appeared deep within the palace, and
foul beasts have been rising ever higher within, even reaching to the harem near
the surface. He wants you to explore the area…and explore you shall.
The Harem and the Palace Cellar beneath it contain a number of enemies,
including
the new Blunderbore. These huge beasts can stun a character with their massive…
rolling pins? Anyway, they're tough, so stay away. There are also plenty of
Horror Archers and Horror Mages around. These are similar to Burning Dead,
except
they're enchanted with Lightning, so tread carefully. Also, don't miss the fact
that you can click on the large circular beds to have an item pop up.
Once you hit the waypoint on the first level of the Palace Cellar, head down to
the third level and search for the portal. It should be somewhere toward the
center. There will be a unique monster somewhere nearby, so be prepared for a
fight. In order to activate the portal, simply click on it; a blue field similar
to a Town Portal will appear, which you can step through.
You arrive in the Arcane Sanctuary (hit the waypoint!). One of the most
distinctive areas in Diablo II, the Sanctuary is similar to the Maggot Lair in
that the walkways that you'll be moving along are very narrow, making the
coordination of a horde of skeletons quite a chore. The three main enemies here
are the Hell Clan, Specters, and Ghoul Lords. Any of these would be difficult by
themselves, but the three of them together makes for one extremely tough area.
You'll often be facing situations where the Hell Clan Goatmen are hacking away
at
you while Ghoul Lords are raising Fire Walls underneath your feet, and Specters
are draining your Mana (in addition to your health). Needless to say, be very
careful here, and pack plenty of potions. Any kind of ranged attack will be
helpful. The Barbarian's Leap or Leap Attack and the Sorceress's Teleport skills
will come in handy here, as you'll often be facing Ghoul Lords that will be
attacking you from areas that are blocked by hordes of Blood Clan, and you'll
generally want to destroy the Ghoul Lords before dealing with the Blood Clan.
The
Necromancer can use his Golems to great effect here, summoning them on platforms
that would take him a while to walk to, and let them remove the enemies for him.
On the plus side, there are three treasure "rooms" in the area, and the Ghoul
Lords frequently drop excellent items, such as Grim Wands and Gnarled Staves,
that you can sell for a hefty amount of gold.
Any attack that affects multiple enemies, like Multiple Shot for the Amazon or
the Nova spell of the Sorceress, will be helpful in the Arcane Sanctuary.
The reason you're here, though, is to find a clue as to the location of Tal
Rasha's tomb. One of the four main branches here will contain Horazon's Journal,
a book that contains the exact information you need. It's guarded by The
Summoner, a creepy little guy who will greet you with a laugh once you get close
enough. You'll know when you're near to him, as the Quest button will appear on
your screen. He's surrounded by a gaggle of enemies, and will use Ice Blasts and
Fire Walls on you as you approach. He can do quite a bit of damage, but he's
quite weak. One good whack with a Leap Attack can finish him off, but if you
have
the capability, you might just want to use a ranged attack, such as the Amazon's
Multiple Shot, to fire away at him from a distance until he falls. You can also
use the aforementioned remote Golem trick to place a minion near him, while you
hang back and watch the fight. In any case, he'll drop a magical item when he
dies, and you can go ahead and read Horazon's Journal. Once you do, a red portal
will open to the Canyon of the Magi. Go ahead and go through the portal, and use
the nearby waypoint to warp back to Lut Gholein.
The Seven Tombs: Talk to Jerhyn. The sixth and final quest will be given to you.
Heal up, and head back to the Canyon of the Magi.
Your mission now is to find the tomb of Tal Rasha and hopefully intercept Diablo
before he can free his brother Baal from the dual prison of the Soulstone and
Tal
Rasha's body. Unfortunately, the Horadrim managed to hire enough contractors to
construct not just one, but seven different tombs, each with the possibility of
being Tal Rasha's tomb. Luckily for you, Horazon's Journal gave you the marker
of
the real tomb. Open your Quest window and click on the sixth quest button; the
sigil for the tomb of Tal Rasha, randomized each game, is given below.
You can expect to see a lot of foes in the Canyon of the Magi.
You still have to actually find the tomb, however. The seven tombs are located
along the northern and eastern sides of the Canyon of the Magi. From left
(northwestern corner) to right (southeastern corner), they are as follows:
Circle, "U" shape, Square, a sun-like symbol with four Lightning bolts, an odd
symbol that resembles two V's placed on top of one another, Triangle, and a
Circle with a "U" underneath. All of them are referred to as Tal Rasha's tomb
when you hover the mouse over them, but only one is the true tomb. The other six
are optional areas that you can visit if you want to gain a few levels or find
some treasure. All seven of them are filled to the brim with nasties, including
large collections of Greater Mummies, and the six false tombs each contain a
gold
chest to give you some kind of reward.
But assuming you head straight for the true tomb of Tal Rasha, you'll need to
explore the cavern thoroughly until you find the Circle of Seven Symbols. It's
extremely important to clear a path from the doorway to this Circle, as you're
going to be finding the end boss of the act quite difficult, and you'll be dying
frequently before you beat him. Of course, this is just a precaution, as you'll
probably be wise enough to use Town Portals before you attempt to fight the
boss.
At any rate, once you find the Circle, clear the room of monsters and place the
Horadric Staff in the receptacle (the interface is similar to Charsi's Imbue
skill). The wall nearby will be smashed, revealing the entrance to Tal Rasha's
Tomb. Cast a Town Portal here, as you probably won't have time to when you enter
the next chamber, and you won't be able to come back through the door.
This is the portal that leads you to Duriel.
And why won't you have time to cast the portal? Because you'll be dead as soon
as
you arrive. Well, probably not, but if you stand still for a couple of seconds,
Duriel will just annihilate you. Duriel is going to be a huge challenge for any
character at this stage of the game, seeing as he combines incredible strength,
a
slowing effect that lasts longer than could possibly be necessary to beat him,
and the fastest speed of any enemy encountered so far, it's fair to bet. He can
cross the screen in a second and pound you flat as soon as he reaches you.
As far as strategy goes, well…try not to die. Hire a mercenary before you head
down to face Duriel; he'll be dead after one blow, but it's better than nothing.
You should definitely reach level 24, and might even want to reach 25, before
facing Duriel, as the advanced skills that will open up to you then will be
quite
useful. As far as class-specific advice goes, your tactics will depend on how
you
want to handle him. If your character is Hardcore, or you simply have an
aversion
to dying, you'll probably want to queue up a Town Portal scroll into your belt,
to make for an instant portal when you want to escape, because opening up the
inventory and right-clicking on your Tome will generally give Duriel enough time
to wipe you out. Thawing potions will also be essential for running away when
you
need to wait for a potion to charge your health up.
If you don't particularly care about dying, then you might want to try and go
toe-
to-toe with Duriel, leaving a present behind when you do wind up dying. When you
die, and the "Hit ESC to Continue" screen pops up, anything that you've managed
to target Duriel with will still hurt him. For instance, if you're playing as an
Amazon, you can back up against a wall, wait for Duriel to charge you, and fire
as many Immolation Arrows at him as possible before you die (you can rapidly eat
potions to attempt to stay alive, but you'll probably just delay the
inevitable).
Once you die, stay at the death screen for a few moments until the Immolation
Arrows fire dies down. You'll notice that Duriel still takes damage as long as
he
stays on top of the fire, even though you're dead. You can restart in town, buy
some cheap equipment, head through your portal (you did remember to make one in
the Circle room, right?), and repeat the process until he dies. The same goes
for
many of the Sorceress spells, as well. After using Static Field to knock his
health down substantially, you can wrap things up with a Blizzard or Meteor and
hope he stays in the same spot until the fire burns out. If you're using
Lightning skills, you might just want to cast a Thunder Storm and run around,
hoping he'll eventually die from the thunderbolts. The Necromancer will want to
attack from a distance, if possible, while his minions are smashed into tiny
bits
by Duriel, perhaps cursing him with Iron Maiden or Amplify Damage. The Paladin
and Barbarian are probably best served by hacking it out. The Barbarian should
Concentrate, Double Swing, or Bash as much as Mana permits, and use Thawing and
Health potions to stay alive and unfrozen as much as possible. The Paladin
should
be able to avoid many of Duriel's swipes with his high Armor Class (you do have
a
good shield, don't you?), so Zealing him to death shouldn't be too huge of a
problem. The character that will probably have the most problems is the
Sorceress, but with the right party members in tow, you should be able to avoid
Duriel's attacks and simply cast spells from a distance. Of course, in single
player, you're on your own, and you'll need to whittle him down over the course
of a few lives until he's dead.
It'll take a while to kill him, but seeing Duriel explode makes the effort
worthwhile.
Once he is dead, some pyrotechnics will result, and the portal to Tal Rasha's
Tomb (finally) will open up in the north wall. Head on through, and free Tyrial.
Once you've spoken to him, you can return to town and wrap things up with the
NPCs. Say your farewells, and talk to Meshif to head to Act III.
Areas:
Sewers Beneath Lut Gholein
Enemies: Sand Raider, Dried Corpse, Burning Dead Archer, Burning Dead, Burning
Dead Mage, Horror
Notes: Home to Radament and his minions, the Sewers contain a waypoint on the
second level.
Rocky Wastes
Enemies: Slinger, Sand Leaper
Notes: Nothing to see here, except for the entrance to the optional Stony Tomb.
Stony Tomb
Enemies: Horror, Burning Dead Mage
Notes: One level here, and one gold chest to match.
Dry Hills
Enemies: Saber Cat, Spear Cat, Undead Scavenger
Notes: The entrance to the Halls of the Dead, as well as a waypoint, is
somewhere
in this area.
Halls of the Dead
Enemies: Hollow One, Spear Cat, Desert Wing, Decayed Corpse, Burning Dead
Notes: The Horadric Cube is located somewhere inside this area, in a gold chest,
as well as a waypoint on level 2.
Far Oasis
Enemies: Spear Cat, Itchies, Sand Maggot, Death Beetle, Black Raptor
Notes: Another waypoint here, and the entrance to the Maggot Lair.
Maggot Lair
Enemies: Sand Maggot, Rock Worm, Black Locust, Death Beetle
Notes: The narrow, winding corridors will make a horde of Skeletons pretty
difficult to manage. Lots of chests with magical items, but your goal is
Coldworm
the Burrower on level 3, who's guarding the Horadric Shaft.
The Lost City
Enemies: Marauder, Night Tiger, Plague Bearer, Fire Tower, Tomb Creeper
Notes: Another waypoint in this area, along with an entrance to the Ancient
Tunnels, an optional dungeon.
Ancient Tunnels
Enemies: Horror Mage, Embalmed, Invader, Plague Bearer
Notes: One gold chest down here somewhere. You should probably hit the waypoint
in the Lost City before heading down here, as it'll be easier to just warp back
to town than walk out.
Valley of Snakes
Enemies: Fire Tower
Notes: Short, transitory level leading to the Claw Viper Temple.
Claw Viper Temple
Enemies: Claw Viper, Salamander, Embalmed
Notes: The Headpiece to the Horadric Staff (a.k.a. the Viper Amulet) is located
here.
Harem / Palace Cellar
Enemies: Blunderbore, Horror Mage, Horror Archers, Dune Beast, Invaders
Notes: This area can be pretty tough due to the mixture of powerful melee
enemies
and numerous ranged attackers. The large circular beds act as treasure chests.
Waypoint on level 1 of the Cellar.
Arcane Sanctuary
Enemies: Specter, Hell Clan, Ghoul Lord
Notes: One of the best areas in Act II for gaining levels, equipment, and gold,
the enemies here in the Arcane Sanctuary will give any player a challenge. Three
of the four main branches end in treasure rooms, while one will result in an
encounter with the Summoner.
Canyon of the Magi
Enemies: Hell Cat, Hell Slinger, Crusher, Devourer
Notes: Large, open area containing a waypoint and the entrances to the seven
tombs of Tal Rasha.
Tomb of Tal Rasha (True and False)
Enemies: Preserved Dead, Ghoul Lords, Burning Dead, Unraveler, Gorebelly,
Apparition
Notes: The Unravelers here resurrect any of the undead that you kill, including
skeletons, mummies, and even the Apparitions. The six false tombs will each
contain a gold chest, while the true tomb will contain the doorway to Duriel's
arena.
Act III - Kurast
Welcome to Kurast Docktown, a water city near the overrun ruins of Kurast
proper.
The city itself is rather spread out, so be prepared to do some running around
when you come here in between adventuring sessions. As usual, there will be all
manner of NPCs hanging around to help you out.
Alkor: The local potionmeister, this man will also allow you to gamble.
Asheara: The local mercenary captain, she will rent out her warrior mages for
you. She also sells magical armor and weapons, as well as arrows and bolts.
Cain: Back by popular demand.
Hralti: This priest is the local blacksmith, as well as selling high-quality
armor, both magical and mundane.
Ormus: The magic-man of the Docks, Ormus will be your healer, as well as
Wand/Staff/Scepter dealer.
Meshif: Meshif hangs around the docks just in case you have to get back to Lut
Gholein.
Natalya: Another non-essential NPC, Natalya will talk to you about whichever
quest you're on, but will never be a necessary stop during a visit to town.
Quests:
The Golden Bird: The first quest in Act III is a relatively easy one. Head out
of
town and start exploring. When you kill the first Unique monster you meet, it
will drop a Jade Figurine. Warp back to town, ask Cain about it, and then take
it
to Meshif. He'll want the Jade Figurine for his collection, and give you a
Golden
Bird in exchange for it. Take this to Alkor. He'll make a potion for you from
the
ashes inside the Golden Bird that will give you a permanent extra 20 Life.
Blade of the Old Religion: When you next talk to Hralti, he'll tell you of the
enchantment he placed on the Docks, to keep the demons out of the city.
Unfortunately, the enchantment is weakening, so he needs you to retrieve a
sacred
blade to revitalize the enchantment, a blade called the Gidbinn.
The Gidbinn is in one of the Flayer villages in the Flayer Jungle, a huge
outdoors area. It'll take quite some time to map it out, so you might want to
hire a mercenary to help you out with the Flayers in the area. Once you actually
find the Gidbinn, a small shrine-like construction, click on it. A gang of
Flayers will spawn nearby, and their leader holds the sacred blade you need.
Kill
them, retrieve the blade, and warp back to town. Ormus will give you a rare ring
as a reward, and Asheara will give you a free mercenary as a token of gratitude
for lessening the load on her troops.
Khalim's Will / The Blackened Temple: Speak to Cain to receive the next quest on
the docket. In order to gain access to the lair of Mephisto, you'll need to
gather four relics of Khalim, an ancient priest, and Transmute them in the
Horadric Cube. This quest overlaps with the fifth quest in this Act, The
Blackened Temple.
The first relic you should go after will be the Eye of Khalim, located in the
Spider Cavern beneath the Spider Forest. Be careful not to go into the Arachnid
Lair, a similarly themed area, nearby. Both of the caves contain similar
monsters
and one gold chest, but only the Spider Cavern will have Khalim's Eye.
Once you have the Eye, you're going to want to head for the Flayer Jungle.
Somewhere around here is the Flayer Dungeon, a three-level dungeon filled with
Undead Flayers, Water Watchers, and Dark Shapes. The Super Unique monster Witch
Doctor Endugu guards the gold chest that holds the Brain, so take him out and
warp back to town.
The third piece of the Puzzle is Khalim's Heart, located in the Sewers beneath
Kurast. You can reach the sewers from either Upper Kurast or the Kurast Bazaar,
but the area below is randomized, so you're going to have to do plenty of
searching either way. The sewers are fairly dangerous, containing Horadrim
Ancient (tougher versions of the Unravelers) and Stygian Watchers in the water,
as well as plenty of other baddies. There's a gold chest somewhere on the first
level, but the Brain is located on the second level. The entrance is located
next
to a lever that will open it. Once you're down on the second level, you'll have
to fight off the Stygian Watchers in the large pool of water in the center of
the
room if you want to search safely. Occasionally, there'll be a pack of Undead
Soul Killers down there with them, so be careful. Once the Watchers are dead,
head around, opening the chests in the area. The Brain will be in the gold
chest,
but all of the chests have an excellent chance for containing magical items,
making this a great place to come back to when you initiate future game
sessions.
The last item you need, Khalim's Flail, is held by one of the Council Members in
Travincal. When you reach Travincal for the first time, warp back to town and
speak to Ormus. He'll tell you that you should destroy the High Council of
Zakarum, a group of monsters that were once esteemed priests, charged with the
overseeing of Mephisto's prison. These guys are extremely tough, so you might
want to bring along a mercenary to give them another target.
Once you reach Travincal, you'll notice a raised walkway that travels around the
perimeter of the area. If you have any kind of ranged attack, you should run
around the walkway and attempt to shoot any of the Zealots or Heirophants that
appear. There are Night Lords in the area that can cast Meteors at you, though,
so be prepared.
When you clear out the central area of the town, head toward the large building
at the north end. Three of the Council Members will be in this area, so you'll
probably want to try and lure them out one at a time. They're tough little guys,
so make good use of the space available to you, especially if you're using a
ranged attack. Shoot, run, shoot, run, and repeat until dead. One of them will
drop Khalim's Flail, the last ingredient in the Khalim recipe. Warp back to town
and Transmute all of his relics to make Khalim's Will, a unique Flail that can
be
used to smash the Compelling Orb, opening the way to Mephisto's Lair.
Lam Esen's Tome: Once you reach the Kurast Bazaar, you can speak to Alkor to
receive the fourth quest. This one will actually come in the middle of the two
quests described above, so be sure you don't miss it. Alkor will ask you to
retrieve a book written by Lam Esen that describes the way the Prime Evils can
affect the mortal realm.
Much like the Seven Tombs quest in Act II, this one will send you searching
through multiple areas. Unfortunately, there's no way to know which one will
contain Esen's Tome ahead of time, so you'll just have to get ready for some
footwork. In the Kurast Bazaar, Kurast Causeway, and Upper Kurast, you'll notice
that some buildings are displayed with stairways on your map. There should be
six
of these in total. You can click on the bloody altar in each of these buildings
to reveal stairways that lead down into a mini-dungeon. You'll have to search
each of them until you find the tome. The five false dungeons don't contain gold
Chests; rather, they're filled with bloodthirsty monsters.
Once you actually find the Tome, bring it back to Alkor. He'll give you five
free
Stat points to use.
The Guardian: Once you've used Khalim's Will to smash the Compelling Orb, the
gate to Mephisto's lair will be opened. The Durance of Hate, as it's called, is
a
three-level dungeon filled with treasure chests and enemies, with Mephisto
residing on the third level. Plenty of tough enemies here, as would be expected
of the final dungeon.
Mephisto is surrounded by Council Members and Blood Lords, advanced versions of
the Ghoul Lords that gave you so much grief in the Arcane Sanctuary. When you
reach the third level, begin by clearing out the large room you begin in, and
then start inching your way toward Mephisto, who's hiding in the upper portion
of
the level. It's very important to kill any monsters you encounter before riling
Mephisto up, as he'll be more than you can handle just by himself. Whatever you
do, don't run up the steps behind Mephisto, as there are a good half dozen Blood
Lords waiting around up there, and if you get them angry, you'll never be able
to
kill them all while Mephisto is attacking you.
So, once you manage to clear out Mephisto's minions, you're left to deal with
the
Lord of Hatred himself. As you can probably imagine, taking down a Prime Evil
will not be an easy task. Mephisto has a number of devastating attacks, most of
which are Lightning based. He can shoot a Lightning Ball, similar to the attack
of Hellhounds (Afflicted, Tainted, and the like). He also has a regular
Lightning
attack, copied from the Sorceress skill of the same name, which he'll generally
use to wipe out any of your minions that approach him. His main medium-range
attack is a flurry of 8-10 Charged Bolts, which not only deal Lightning damage,
but also slow you as an ice attack would. He can also poison you at close range.
Basically, if you can attack from a distance, it's the only way to go. The
Lightning Bolts and Charged Bolts will rip any character that closes on Mephisto
to shreds, unless you have an ungodly amount of Lightning resistance.
Thankfully,
there's something of a trick you can use to attack Mephisto without taking any
damage. Once he notices you and starts to attack, quickly run back to the left
or
right until you're on the opposite side of the small stream of blood that the
Portal is on top of. Mephisto might be able to hover, but he can't fly, and he
won't be smart enough to maneuver around the stream to reach you. If you manage
to walk back far enough so that Mephisto is barely visible in the top left
corner
of your view, you will be able to fire as many arrows at him as you want,
without
suffering any return fire from him. This should work for any character class, so
even if you're a Barbarian, you might want to invest in a good magical bow
before
making the trip down to face off against Mephisto.
Once Mephisto falls, he'll drop his Soulstone, as well as a few magical items.
The bridge to the portal will open, letting you move on to the fourth and final
Act. There's a stunning cutscene coming up, so sit back and enjoy.
Areas:
Spider Forest
Enemies: Fetish, Fetish Shaman, Jungle Hunter
Notes: It's generally best to face off against the Fetishes on one of the many
bridges throughout the area, as this will prevent them from surrounding you. The
entrances to the Spider Cavern and Arachnid Lair are in this area.
Arachnid Lair / Spider Cavern
Enemies: Giant Lamprey, Poison Spinner, Fiend
Notes: These areas are similar, but the Spider Cavern is the one that contains
Khalim's Eye. The Arachnid Lair contains a gold chest.
Great Marsh
Enemies: Swamp Dweller, Gloam, Bramble Hulk, River Stalker, Fetish, Fetish
Shaman
Notes: This huge area isn't necessary to explore, but there are a couple of rare
above land gold Chests guarded by Fetishes.
Flayer Jungle
Enemies: Flayer, Flayer Shaman, Soul Killer, Soul Killer Shaman, Winged
Nightmare
Notes: Contains the entrance to the Flayer Dungeon.
Flayer Dungeon
Enemies: Water Watcher, Dark Shape, Undead Flayer
Notes: Witch Doctor Endugu guards Khalim's Heart on the third level of this
dungeon.
Lower Kurast
Enemies: Hell Buzzard, Tree Lurker, Doom Ape
Notes: Plenty of chests scattered around in the houses here.
Kurast Bazaar
Enemies: Thrasher, Zarakumite, Sexton, Faithful, Hell Swarm
Notes: There will be two entrances to the Sewers here, as well as a few of the
possible hiding places for Lam Esen's Tome.
Sewers
Enemies: Gloombat, Horadrim Ancient, Stygian Watcher, Horror, Undead Soul
Killers, Preserved Dead
Notes: The top level here has one gold chest. The second level contains Khalim's
Heart and 10 or so chests, each with a high chance for finding a magical item.
Six Temples
Enemies: Night Lord, Spider Magus, Wailing Beasts, Flesh Hunter, Serpent Magus,
Flesh Archer, Blood Diver
Notes: Only one of the six temples will contain Lam Esen's Tome; the other five
are relatively empty, except for the monsters. Luckily, they're all small, so
searching won't take too long.
Upper Kurast
Enemies: Thrasher, Faithful, Sexton, Cantor, Winged Nightmare
Notes: Two more entrances to the Sewers here, as well as another waypoint.
Travincal
Enemies: Night Lord, Heirophant, Zealot, Council Member
Notes: The passage to the Durance of Hate is located in the northernmost
building.
Durance of Hate
Enemies: Cadaver, Undead Stygian Doll, Dark Lord, Blood Lord, Council Member
Notes: Something REAL bad happened here, as evidenced by the copious amounts of
blood scattered around each of the levels. A large number of chests and stashes
make exploration a little less numbing. Don't miss the waypoint on Level 2
before
heading on to face Mephisto.
Act IV - Hell
Well, welcome to Hell. The Pandemonium Fortress appears to be an outpost of
Heaven near the burning wastes of Hell itself. Fittingly enough, this is where
you will launch your assault on the fortress of Diablo. There isn't much in the
way of NPCs in Hell, but there are four people hanging around to talk to.
Cain: He's going the distance with you. He'll be around to chat and identify
items for you.
Halbu: An armor dealer, Halbu sells some weapons, but you'll probably mostly be
visiting him for his magical armor and his blacksmith skills.
Jamella: Paladin warrior, Jamella sells armor, weapons, scrolls, and potions,
and
will heal you when you visit her.
Tyrael: The Archangel should be well known to you from the cutscenes by now.
Quests:
The Fallen Angel: Once you speak to Tyrael for the first time, he'll send you on
the Fallen Angel quest. One of Tyreal's former Lieutenants, Izual, has had his
spirit imprisoned within the body of a foul demon, and now roams throughout
Hell.
Tyreal feels that he has suffered enough, and asks that you free Izual by
slaying
the demon that acts as his prison.
You'll find Izual walking about the Plains of Despair. When he spots you, he'll
yell out "Save yourself!" and charge. His main attack is a melee strike with his
blade, which will slow you down to around 20% of your normal speed. He also can
send out a Frost Nova that will slow any players within about a one-third screen
distance.
The main problem you'll encounter when tackling Izual will be the number of
enemies around him. Since he's out in the middle of the level, instead of being
in his own enclosure like so many other tough enemies, you can easily begin to
attract a horde of monsters that will make the fight that much more difficult.
You should probably work your way out from the stairs leading to the Outer
Steppes, clearing all of the monsters that you find. When you happen across
Izual, trace your steps backward a few screens, so that the two of you can dance
in relative peace. Other than that, there's really not much to be said about
Izual. He likes to bang on you with his sword. Anything that increases your
resistance to Cold, or reduces freeze durations, will obviously be helpful.
There
aren't any mercenaries you can use to give him another target, so it'll
generally
just be you and him, unless you have minions to summon.
Once Izual is dead, you can talk to his spirit, and you'll receive two Skill
Points as a reward. Head back to town afterwards.
The Hellforge: Now that Izual is defeated, it's time to head for the second
quest, where you'll have to shatter Mephisto's Soulstone on the Hellforge. The
Hellforge is located in the River of Flame beneath the City of the Damned, so
look around for the stairs leading down in the City, and be sure to hit the
waypoint.
Once you arrive in the River of Flame, you'll need to start scouting the area
and
looking for the Hellforge. There are plenty of tough enemies here, so take the
opportunity to clear them out and gain some experience. There's nothing tricky
to
navigation in the area, but be sure you don't miss any areas. You'll know you're
getting close to the Hellforge when you see a brick path and some torches set
up.
A little further in, you'll encounter Hephasto, the guardian of the Hellforge
(note to Blizzard: Haphaestus was a good god).
Hephasto is quite a toughie, with the Extra Strong, Cursed, and Magic Resistant
attributes. Luckily, he only has one attack, a powerful melee blow with his
hammer. How you choose to deal with him is up to you; an effective way is to
combine a cold-based ranged attack (Glacial Spike or Ice Arrow work well) with a
lot of running away. Hephasto is quite fast, though, so he'll often be able to
get a whack in as you turn to fire. He can take plenty of damage, so keep a Town
Portal nearby to run into if you get into trouble. Any kind of minion, whether a
Decoy or Golem, will be useful to keep him busy.
Eventually, he'll die and drop the Hellforge Hammer. Equip it and click on the
Hellforge to smash Mephisto's Soulstone. A number of gems will pop out,
including
at least one perfect gem. Collect the spoils of war, and head back to base to
gird up for the battle with Diablo.
Terror's End: Well, it's time to put an end to all of this madness. Diablo
awaits
you in his Chaos Sanctuary, and it's up to you and you alone (unless, of course,
you're playing on Battle.net) to kill him, and prevent the forces of Hell from
overtaking the world, plunging civilization into endless night. Or something
like
that.
Take the waypoint to the River of Flame. If you didn't hit that, go back through
your Town Portal from the Hellforge and start looking for it. Diablo's lair will
be guarded by a long set of broad walkways, filled to the brim with all of the
nasties that you've encountered in Hell thus far, and some that you haven't. You
can expect Pit Lords, Urdars, Maw Fiends, Blood Maggots, Doom Knights, and more.
The Blood Maggots and their young will make this area an especially nasty chore,
as they can quickly overwhelm you with sheer numbers, though they aren't as
tough
as some of the other enemies that you might be facing. If you have the ability
to
summon minions, such as Golems or Valkyries, you can summon them across the
rivers of lava, and let them deal with the enemies while you attack from afar.
In any case, you'll need to slog through a couple hundred enemies before you
finally reach the Chaos Sanctuary. Diablo's Lair is mostly filled with Pit
Lords,
Storm Casters, and the lovely threesome of Doom, Abyss and Oblivion Knights.
Obviously, this is going to be a tough, tough area for any adventurer. You'll
need to constantly warp back to town for more Health Potions, as the Knights
alone will be able to knock your health down a significant fraction in just a
few
seconds.
Once you reach the large pentagram in the middle of the Sanctuary, you'll have
to
travel around, opening the five seals that Hadrial should've told you about at
the gate to the walkways outside. Nothing tricky here, just click on them and
they open. The important thing to note here is that you should have the entire
area cleared of enemies before you open the seals. Why? Because three of the
seals magically spawn small armies of foes when they're opened, and you'll be
much better off dealing with them by themselves.
So, once you clear the area completely, start clicking on the seals. In a random
order, you'll spawn a Venom Lord army, with the Super Unique Infector of Souls
as
the leader, a Storm Caster battalion led by the Grand Vizier of Chaos, and a
collection of Oblivion Knights with Lord De Seis as commander. The tricky part
is
that some of the seals are at the end of fairly narrow corridors, and the
enemies
will appear behind you, effectively boxing you in and pounding you down without
giving you anywhere to run to. If this is a problem for you, you might want to
create a Town Portal before opening the seal, then jump out if they box you in.
You can then head back to the River of Flame waypoint and walk back to the Chaos
Sanctuary. Yeah, it's a bit of a hike, but if you die, recovering the items on
your body is going to be one tough chore when it's surrounded by a horde of the
toughest enemies you've seen so far in the game.
That said, when you're fighting off these three armies, the important thing is
to
avoid getting surrounded. The Venom Lords, especially, will rip you to shreds
with their Inferno breath within seconds if they manage to surround you. You
don't have to worry about it with the Oblivion Knights, though, as they'll all
turn out to be of the Mage variety, and will attack you from afar. You merely
have to worry about a wide variety of enchanted magical bolts coming your way.
At any rate, once all of the seals are opened and all of the enemies in the area
are dead, the main attraction will appear in the middle of the large pentagram.
Diablo, as expected, will give anyone a run for his or her money. He's not as
quick as Duriel was, so most characters will be able to avoid him if they so
desire, but he often uses a Bone Cage to trap characters that run away, as well
as to block off any Town Portals in the area. He has four main attacks. The
least
dangerous is the expanding ring of fire that he periodically throws out. It's
comprised of discrete modules of fire that drift apart as it expands, making it
perfectly easy to slip through the gaps from a screen or so away. Even if you're
too close to dodge it, it won't deal a huge amount of damage to you, especially
if your fire resistance is at a respectable level. He also will periodically
throw out a bizarre Fire Wall-type spell that sends dual streams of fire at you.
This one moves fairly slowly, and moving to the side makes for an easy dodge. If
you can't avoid it, you can just sit it out, as the flames only last a couple of
seconds. If you get trapped in the flames, though, you'll probably find yourself
in a stunlock situation where you can't move, leaving you open to other attacks.
Like almost every other monster, Diablo has a pummeling melee attack, where
he'll
rush at you on all fours and strike at you with his fist. His most deadly
weapon,
though, is a stream of red Lightning that he'll shoot out at you when you get
too
close to him. It can be avoided, but the closer you are to him, the harder it
will be to get out of the way. If it does hit you, you can often find yourself
rendered immobile by the rapid damage that sweeps over you. In general, as soon
as you get hit even once by the Lightning, your only way to survive will be to
immediately hit one of your Greater or Super Healing potions, and hope it can
partially counteract the rapid decline of your health. As soon as you see the
animation for this attack begin, you should run away from Diablo, as well as to
the side. He can't move the Lightning from side to side very quickly, so you
should be able to avoid it if you get a head start.
The key to taking Diablo out will be in the knowledge that most of his attacks
will be issued when he's standing still. The red Lightning, fire circle, and
Fire
Stream attacks can only be used when Diablo isn't moving, so you'll have a small
window of opportunity to use an area effect skill to hopefully damage him before
he moves away. He'll start moving once you get too far away from him, though, so
you'll want to stay on the same screen as him if you try to roast him. This
tactic works especially well for the Amazon and Sorceress, with spells like
Immolation Arrow and Meteor that punish Diablo for staying in the same spot for
too long. With a bit of luck, you can cast a spell just as he's beginning a
flurry of spells that will keep him in the same spot for 5-10 seconds. If you
can
pile on a few Immolation Arrows while he's standing still, you'll begin to see
his health take a noticeable downswing.
As far as melee classes go, well, your best bet is to float like the butterfly
and sting like the bee. You should try and beef up your fire resistance as much
as possible, and simply avoid the red Lightning. You might want to warp back to
town, drop all of your equipment, and buy some cheap armor and weapons, just to
get a feel for Diablo's attacks without risking all of your good stuff. Once you
feel prepared to take him on, you should choose your attacks carefully. If you
just stand next to him and hack away, he'll eventually blast you with the
Lightning. You have to know when he's about to shoot it, and quickly move away.
If your Lightning resistance is at a high level, you might try and just take the
damage, but it'll still be pretty tough. Melee classes should always keep a Town
Portal open nearby, as you'll be using health potions like they're going out of
style.
Eventually, Diablo will fall, dropping a rare and one or two magical items. Pick
up the spoils and return to town to speak to Cain and Tyreal. You can go ahead
and talk to Jamella and Halbu, but they seem altogether unimpressed.
Now, if you thought that was easy, feel free to move on to Nightmare mode. But
be
warned…this isn't your father's Nightmare mode. Blizzard, after getting feedback
that the original Diablo was a little too easy for advanced characters, upped
the
ante on Nightmare and Hell difficulties in Diablo II. You'll find them much more
difficult than Normal mode was, so be prepared. Nothing can quite prepare you
for
having your level 28 character be killed by a pack of Fallen, for God's sake.
Areas:
Outer Steppes
Enemies: Flesh Spawner, Corpulant, Venom Lord, Flesh Beast, Doom Knight, Cliff
Leapers
Notes: Large, open area. The stairs to the Plains of Despair are somewhere
around
here, generally on the bottom left side of the map.
Plains of Despair
Enemies: Flesh Spawner, Burning Soul, Doom Knight
Notes: Izual is somewhere around here, as well as the stairs to the City of the
Damned.
City of the Damned
Enemies: Damned, Pit Lord, Dark Familiar, Strangler, Black Soul
Notes: The stairs to the River of Flame, along with a waypoint, are in this
area.
River of Flame
Enemies: Pit Lord, Maw Fiend, Urdar, Blood Maggot, Doom Knight, Burning Soul,
Grotesque, Storm Caster, Abyss Knight, Strangler
Notes: Very tough area here, with plenty of challenging enemies. The Hellforge
and Hephasto are in this area, along with a waypoint near Hadrial. Fantastic
graphics here, with the shimmering heat effect over the lava. If you look
closely
enough, you might see the skeletal remains of one of a damned soul attempt to
climb out of the River, only to be pulled back in.
Chaos Sanctuary
Enemies: Venom Lord, Doom Knight, Abyss Knight, Oblivion Knight, Storm Caster
Notes: The five seals of Diablo, along with Diablo himself, reside in this
castle.